AOL Wireless Plus (Free Laptop) 1 Broadband Bundle

Review of AOL Broadband Wireless Plus with FREE Laptop

UPDATE! Get this package for £10 less per month for the first 3 months. The savings will be paid in the form of a £30 cheque at the end of your first 3 months. (Offer ends 03/08/08).

IT hardly seems possible, but yes, you really can get a free laptop or free PS3 with your AOL broadband connection and, yes, it really is quite a good deal.

It is in fact such a good deal that we predict it will be gone before you can say ‘My favourite price for laptops is free!’ so if you are interested, sign up immediately with AOL to get your name on the list. You have a 7-day cooling off period if you change your mind.

So is the AOL Broadband Wireless Plus with free laptop any good? And what is the catch with the AOL free laptop?

What sort of broadband package is included?

The AOL Broadband Wireless Plus package which accompanies the free laptop is surprisingly good, offering speeds of up to 8Mb. While it is not unlimited in the strict sense of the word, AOL do give you a gigantic 40GB usage allowance which is more than ample for all but the heaviest of users. After all, 40GB is the equivalent of 1 million web pages!

AOL also throw in a free wireless router as well as wireless security and AOL's 24 hour online support.

AOL is also well known for its excellent customer service and in fact has just been voted best broadband provider for customer service, technical support and quality of connection in a recent UK-wide poll.

Keep in mind though that you will be committing to a 24 month contract with AOL and will undergo a credit check.

More about the compulsory home phone package

In order to get your free AOL laptop and AOL Broadband Wireless plus at this price you will have to take the AOL Talk Pay As You Go home phone package.

This may sound a bind, but it is not a bad phone package at all (it is, in fact, slightly cheaper than the BT equivalent) and you can still use non-subscription override companies such as Telediscount to make low cost calls.

You will not, however, be able to use any subscription-based override providers such as 18185 as these do not work on AOL's unbundled telephone exchanges.

What about the AOL free laptop?

The free laptop you get with the AOL Broadband Wireless package is a HP Compaq Notebook boasting Windows Vista Home, 1GB memory, 80GB hard drive, a DVD writer, media card and crucially a wireless card so you can enjoy it alongside the free wireless router you will also receive.

There is the option to upgrade the laptop, but there is no real benefit to this. We’d recommend instead buying some more RAM for the laptop so that Vista performs faster, but this is by no means necessary.

AOL was also offering a Sony PlayStation 3 games console as an alternative the free laptop, but this has sadly been discontinued. It's a laptop or nothing, we're afraid.

One bit of small print worth keeping in mind is the £14.99 delivery charge you’ll have to pay to receive AOL’s free laptop, but this is a small price to pay for such an astounding deal.

This AOL free laptop offer will not last long - in fact, we suspect it won't last more than a few months - so get your name on the list by signing up now.

There is a 7-day cooling off period in case you change your mind.

You can read more about the free laptop on offer in our 3 investigative broadband news reports:
- Free laptops for AOL subscribers
- AOL free laptop offer: 2 months on

	AOL Wireless Plus (Free Laptop) 1 is currently offering FREE HP Compaq Notebook laptop! Yes, free laptop! Also, FREE wireless router.

A little more detail

Broadband

			Special Note..	Any good?
Package Name:		Wireless Plus	-
Connection Type:		ADSL	-
Max Speed:		8Mb	-
Usage Limit:		40GB	-
Hardware:		Wireless router	Free when you sign up online
Anti-virus Protection:		Yes	This costs an additional £2.49 per month
Firewall:		Yes	-
E-mail Account:		Yes	Up to 7 email addresses
Webspace Provided:		Yes	150Mb of webspace
Domain Included:		No	-
Backup Dialup:		Yes	-
Consoles Supported:		All major consoles supported	-

Home Phone

Package Name:		Talk PAYG
UK Weekend Tariff:		Free
UK Evening Tariff:		1.45p per minute to UK landlines. More to mobiles and non-geographic numbers
UK Peak Tariff:		3.95p per minute to UK landlines. More to mobiles and non-geographic numbers
International Tariff:		From 5p per minute to USA and Australia. Discounted rates to all other countries.

Payment, Installation and Contract

Payment Method(s):		Direct Debit / Credit Card
Activation Fee:		Free
Installation:		Free
Minimum Contract:		24 months
Line Rental:		BT line rental required
Support:		Free (if AOL Talk is activated), otherwise 5p/min, 8am to midnight

Actual User Ratings

At a Glance

Our Rating
Max Speed	8Mb
Usage Limit	40GB
Monthly Price	£19.99
Set Up Cost	Free
Min. Contract	24 months

	Bundle details:
	Phone: Free calls at weekends, 3.95p per min at peak times, and 1.45p per min evenings
	TV: Not included
	Mobile: Not included

	It is best suited for:
	Anyone happy to commit to a 24 month contract in return for a FREE laptop (and a generous broadband and PAYG home phone talk bundle)

Customer Reviews

Add your own review of AOL broadband...

Remember, the customer reviews below are subjective (and are not the opinions of ChooseISP.co.uk).

zoe from wales writes... 12/05/2008

"I have been with AOL for a while and already had wireless Broadband. I saw the offer and decided to see if i qualified, i did, so on the 12th April 2008 i took up the offer, What a mistake! I received a letter asking me for a MAC code, so i phoned AOL and told them im already with you, I got an apology and they re-processed the order, the next thing i know i get a letter, your order has been cancelled, i phoned AOL and asked Why? we need a MAC code, and there is broadband on your line, I spent 3 HOURS on the phone between BT and AOL, AOL said it was BT's fault And BT said nothing to with us. AOL eventually put a tag down the line and said you already have AOL wireless broadband, AOL will sort it. The following day my broadband went down so i phoned AOL and asked why my original package £14.99 has gone down. I was told it had to be cancelled to allow broadband to go down the line. AOL then tried to hook me up on AOL Dialler, it didn't work so i phoned and said its not working, AOL dialler team tried everything, they then put me through to customer services who said you cannot have AOL Dialler as your account has been cancelled so you will not have internet. Yet in there documentation it states they will contact you when you are to cancel. I was not contacted. I was then told i had to reorder with the carphone warehouse so i did, carphone warehouse also asked for my line to be cleared so no problems arose. ok i said. I phoned AOL Saturday 10th May 2008, i spent 3 hours going backwards and forwards between customer services and technical. my order had been cancelled due to no MAC Code being provided and was told Carphone warehouse should of put me down as an upgrade customer. I am now waiting still i have been told i go live with broadband 10th June 2008, the Laptop arrives 21 - 28 days later. i would of been off line for 5 weeks when i eventually go live. In theory this is a brilliant offer a £450-£500 laptop for £220, but the fuss and confusion that goes with the offer, and the lack of knowledge at AOL is disgusting. More training should of been done to execute this offer in a professional manner. 'The left hand doesn't know wat the right hand is doing'"

Digby Davies from Powys writes... 22/04/2008

"I am a ten year customer of AoL, I already have broadband and AoL Talk and decided in March to switch to their wireless router - they confirmed by e-mail on 28 March and by letter on 31 March but it still hasn't arrived despite a series of delivery dates and promises of 'it will arrive in 3-5 working days' but no result. The really annoying thing is that every person in their Indian call centre takes at least half an hour to deal with a query and can never do any more than the old '3-5 days' stuff... I think it is time to say 'Goodbye' to AoL..."

Jon from Chesterfield writes... 13/03/2008

"I left BT Broad Band for AOL, due to BT's awful customer service. Unfortunately AOL are worse, rude, long hold times, poor English and lack any ability to sort out problems. Called Carphone Warehouse to set up the deal, they then pass my details on to AOL, call AOL with my MAC code and was told they didn’t want it yet and to wait for the welcome pack and router. 3 weeks later nothing has arrived, call AOL and they tell me Carphone Warehouse has cancelled my order as I haven’t provided my MAC Code, so the whole process starts again. 3 weeks after the restart, still nothing except that I now have no internet, no welcome pack, no router and no laptop. Have contacted Carphone Warehouse to complain about the late laptop but they will not refund the deliver charge. There are other ISP with offers of free hardware eg set top boxes, digital recorders, so it depends what you are after. In theory you could buy the laptop for £350 - £400 and spend £10 per month on Broad Band so we thought it was worth it as we could do with a laptop. "

John Williams from Portsmouth writes... 29/02/2008

"We signed up to AOL at our local Carphone Warehouse, who own AOL. The process took about ten minutes. We had our wireless router within 10 days, online four days later and have just got our new laptop. A very nice package."

Jenny from Tamworth writes... 04/02/2008

"I ordered this AOL free laptop deal on 17th December last year. Ok, yes, I understand there has been Christmas inbetween but my broadband wasnt connected until 30th Jan 08 despite first being told it would be connected on 7th Jan then being told the 15th! As promised I received the free AOL router 2 days later. I opened the box to find the "easy install" CD was missing. After contacting AOL and being told I'll have to go into a branch of Carphone Warehouse to sort it out, which somehow didnt sound right to me. I contacted carphone warehouse by phone and they said they would send me a CD out within 5 working days, so will have to wait and see if it turns up. Also I have never received any info of a username and password so also had to call AOL for that. I cannot say that the AOL staff are impolite - far from it. In fact they are very curteous, but I think they just haven't been trained very well. I'm hoping when I finally receive my free laptop and get my router up and running I will be writing a review saying how great the offer is, but I'm feeling a little unconvinced at the moment!"

Karen from Manchester writes... 03/12/2007

"OK if you can get it. I also was a loyal AOL broadband customer out of contract. I applied and was accepted for the AOL free laptop package but later realised I had inadvertantly given them the wrong telephone number, as I have 2 lines coming in. But this was "too difficult" for the monkeys at AOL customer services to amend so I migrated to Sky.com and am now paying £5 per month for 8Mb. And with the £20 per month I am saving can easily afford a laptop of my own."

Lin from Cumbria writes... 19/10/2007

"I've been an AOL customer for over 5 years and was offered the free laptop package which we agreed to. We received the router after about a week, and received a letter to say the free AOL laptop would follow. After waiting approx 5 weeks, we got in touch with AOL to ask where the laptop was and was told we weren't on the list for a free laptop and if we wanted one we would have to pay £32.48 a month and not the agreed amount of £22.48 per month. If this is how AOL treat their loyal customers they can stick their package!"

Colin from Fife writes... 15/10/2007

"I was an AOL customer out of contract . I contacted AOL about the free laptop offer and was told I could qualify for the offer. I took the basic free laptop model along with the AOL Talk Unlimited package at £24.99 per month. The whole process was painless and after approx 5 weeks, delivery of the new Dell laptop came. This product is excellent , the whole package is a genuine value deal with the added plus of a free wireless router inc. Talk unlimited package cost £24.99. "